TRAT: The body of a 13-year-old schoolgirl, allegedly kidnapped by a 55-year-old man who was later found hanged, was discovered in a canal in Muang district yesterday.
Police and rescue workers were called to Khlong Huai Raeng Bridge on the Rai Pa-Dan Chumphon road in tambon Huay Raeng Tuesday by a resident who reported that a pink bicycle believed to belong to the abducted girl was in a canal beneath a bridge.
The officers found the bike under the bridge and later came across the body of the missing teenager floating face-down in the water nearby.
Nong Mint (full name withheld) was still in her school uniform, but had no underwear on, when her body was retrieved from the canal. Her throat had been cut.
The girl was abducted from outside Anuban Wat Nong Bua School on Friday by a man believed to be Sompong Wongthong, an event filmed by closed-circuit television cameras.
Footage from other CCTVs revealed Sompong drove a pickup truck to his rubber plantation, about 10km from the canal, after snatching the girl.
He also put the girl's bike in his pickup truck.
The girl was not seen again until her body and bicycle were found dumped in the canal.
Sompong's body was found hanging from a tree near his house, with a nylon rope around his neck, on Saturday morning.
Police handling the case said it was likely Sompong committed suicide but also said they did not believe he acted alone. The man suffered from a congenital disease.
The investigators earlier summoned a friend of his, Samphan Sangthong, for questioning over suspected involvement in the kidnapping of Nong Mint.
Samphan allegedly told police he had picked Sompong up at a garage where he took his pickup for repairs on Friday.
Investigators said Samphan's replies during questioning and his statement raised their suspicions.
Criminal records showed Sompong and Samphan had served prison sentences for colluding in a murder 20 years ago.